Home is where the kitchen is?
Photo by worak 
Last week my daughter started a project for her archaeology class. She had to keep a log of every activity that took place in the kitchen. At the end of the week, she had to go through the garbage bags layer by layer to catalog and correlate the remains with the activity log.
She taped notes up everywhere to remind us to write down each kitchen task as we did it, whether or not it resulted in something getting thrown away. As we didn’t want to screw up her chance of getting a decent grade in the class, we complied.
Looking over the log yesterday, I was amazed at all that went on in the kitchen. I expected the usual stuff: fixing meals and cleaning the dishes. But this list included everything: feeding the dog and cat, opening mail, cutting tags off of clothes, planning the front garden, general discussions, talking on the phone, applying a bandage, making coffee, taking aspirin, washing hands, watering plants, reading, doing crosswords, cleaning shoes, paying bills, getting a glass to trap a bee, etc.
Granted, it wasn’t a very exciting list, but it was extensive and filled up many pages. The kitchen is definitely the hub of our house. Whether it’s just us or a group of family and friends, we always end up in the kitchen somehow. Our huge golden retriever likes to lie down in the middle of the kitchen floor so that we all have to constantly step over him–he likes to be in the center of all the action.
I don’t know how the archaeology project will turn out, but after seeing my daughter–armed with yellow rubber gloves-stoically picking through the garbage, I hope she gets an A. But I guess we’ll also find out if we’re really eating enough fruits and vegetables, and if we’re being as conscientious as possible with our recycling.
How about you? Is your kitchen the place to be? What do you think your garbage will reflect about your lifestyle years from now?
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From a mouse, I’m not surprised. : )
it is nice very nice
That’s really cool, I’m sure everyone’s done something similair to that for school, and I think it’s a great way of reflecting your lifestyle.
how do you know it’s the hub of the house with no comparison lists from all the other rooms?
sounds like alot of work was taken good job i give an A++
Thats honestly a very interesting angle.
I give the teacher props. And your daughter, too, for the dedication. She was obviously very interested.
“how do you know it’s the hub of the house with no comparison lists from all the other rooms?”
I find that true. You never know…
Very intriguing… I’ll be working on my own similar project just to see how it turns out.
Kudos to you!
Sorry My thoughts are elsewhere , I would like to know if it is a violation If I ask a question , that contains a link to help save a world wildlife preserve? it is to save Steve Erwin’s preserve. I do not want a violation, but this is a good place to to reach people,& any age can sign the petition, because the preserve was meant to last for ages, but won’t if it gets drilled on. the link is
http://www.australiazoo.com.au banner save Steve’s place
This is sounds like an intresting project. i would have to say after i thought about it my kitchen is where all the important stuff happens!
What a wonderful assignment! It explains archeology perfectly, And I think we would all be amazed if we just started cataloging the stuff we do. It would open our eyes up to a lot that we waste and consume. Hope she gets an A!
It makes you think that if we all did that, we would have a lot more to recycle.
My kitchen looks like a work zone. That’s because my desk is a disaster of tasks yet to be done. One day I’ll move one or two to the kitchen and add a couple to the desk. It’s time for spring cleaning! I’m finding that when you have a large yard with many trees, a home, pets, and are a conscientious recycler as well as an avid reader, your time just disappears.
My house activities are polar. One end is the kitchen and the other is my bed room, where I have the computer. The bedroom is also where I read.
Your daughter would be amazed at what it takes for just one person to live in this complex world of ours. As Jared Diamond might say, “We all have too much cargo!”
On a similar note, we moved a lot and considered “home” to be wherever our pendulum clock was hanging (at least we did until our house burned to the ground — clock and all).
What a great exercise, and I praise your daughter for for completing the assignment, and I also praise you for lack of a better term “looking over her shoulder’ Unfortunately, too many parents today are not involved with their children’s education, heck some of the teachers are not truly involved!! Anyway, to answer your question, honestly I am afraid to look into my garbage, LOL….one reason, is I hate waste, and having three children ranging from 6 to 16, and as hard as I try, they still tend to waste something!! If I had to guess, most of our waste would be similiar to yours, with a few differences, remains of the meds we gave our dogs, uhm……a syringe or two, see my father is a diabetic, and yes I have a container, just everyonce in a while a stray one ends up in the garbage, but trust me it is very unusable, I cut, the ‘needle’ part off! Oh, a few toys, some used and broken crayons!!……….see as I said not that much different than yours. “The kitchen is definetly the hub of our house” ……my great grandfather when he came here from Italy, he and his “paisano’s” built a small apartment building, while each apartment had two entries, the one entry that was used consistently, was the one that opens into the kitchens!! and that is true of each of the apartments, it is a small building it has 8 apartments and I can’t not remember the technical term, but they are built like a subway train, when you enter into the kitchen directly to the right of you is the doorway into another room, my grandparents made this their bedroom, and right before the entrance, on the left is the bathroom, well if you were to walk into that bedroom and keep going straight, you will enter into the end room, which they made into a small living room, and to back track, if when you entered the kitchen instead of going right, if you were to go left, about 8 feet or so, you would enter into the other end room, which they made into another bedroom. Not sure if I described it well enough for you to picture, but these apartments were built similiar to the lay out of a subway train! The kitchens in that building are definetly the “hub” of each home, which sort of makes sense to me, I have both Italian and Native American blood, and as a child I was taught by both sides, that when a guest enters your home you are to offer them food and drink, well you know, that is true in most cultures, right?! Also, if you think about how cold it can get in winter, well the kitchen is truly the warmest place, maybe not so much now, since most of us are in such a hurry, rush rush, rush…….but if I were to think about it, my grandmother and numerous Aunts, they were primarily stay at home wives and moms, and they would usually start their dinners, around 9-10am, you know the homemade pasta, and the sauce, especially the sauce, it has to simmer……..!! Makes sense, doesn’t it?!
I love reading all the comments, so sorry to hear about the house burning down and loosing their clock!!
Good Luck to you all!
MB
thatz kool. my kitchen is very small, so most things happen in the living room.
I have a degree in archaeology… I remember the garbage projects. I hope she keeps up her interest in the field! There is nothing more thrilling than to go on a excavation and dig up hundred or thousand year old ‘garbage’, if you are the first to see a lost item in 5000 years it is an amazing feeling.
This page is where you end up when you click on the hamster waving the red flag, suposedly we are going somewhere to find out how to make answers a better place, that Y!A link has been wrong since day one.
Has Y!A noticed yet?
Will you fix it, please?
The picture link is one that rotates with others on our profile page.
@Magyver – thanks for the heads-up. We’ll get that link fixed. – Mitzi
Thats a really kool assignment,I havent had to anything like that at my school,but that would be something kool to try.I think i might do this to see how much important stuff happens in there ha.
We are an Italian family and the kitchen is where we all hang out, we even have a TV there LOL. We discuss anything of importance there and everything that comes in the house goes there first basically…will except the horses that come in, they just would fit in there.
We plan on redoing our kitchen but I’m trying to get my mother to cut down her wants, i do not want to spend 40 grand and that’s where she is at right now, maybe i should sell my mother on eBay then i wont have to redo the kitchen….its cheaper.
I wouldn’t dare stick my hand in the trash, gross…I wont even touch it to take it out…that’s what the men folks here are for LOL